The Victory Garden [Hardcover]

Lee Kochenderfer (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

It’s 1943, and everyone says the war will be over soon—World War II, that is—but Teresa Marks wonders exactly when that day will come. Her older brother, Jeff, is a fighter pilot doing his bit somewhere out there in the sky. Teresa worries about him, hoping he will get home to Kansas safely.

As a way of speeding Jeff’s return, Teresa and her dad plant victory gardens. The gardens help with the war effort—and Teresa likes sowing seeds and watching them grow. It’s life affirming.

For the past two years, the Markses have planted tomatoes (Jeff’s favorite!), winning taste-testing duels with a curmudgeonly neighbor. But this spring, when the neighbor is hospitalized, Teresa rallies her friends to tend to his garden. She can’t bear to see it plowed under. She even wonders whether she should use her secret for growing better tomatoes on her rival’s plants. But her faith in secret weapons, in victory gardens, in people, and in life itself is shattered as the war rages on overseas and death strikes close to home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This studiously sunny first novel offers a slice of WWII Americana in relating the trials and triumphs of its 11-year-old narrator. After her neighbor, gruff Mr. Burt, is hospitalized, Teresa can't stand the thought of his carefully tended victory garden going to ruin, or worse yet, getting plowed under. With Mr. Burt's permission, she leads a campaign to salvage his harvest and, at the same time, earn money for the war effort. While battles rage in Europe, endangering the lives of brave young men (like Teresa's older brother), Teresa does her part to keep peace on the home front. She encourages her classmates to work together in Mr. Burt's garden and reaches out to an embittered boy, who threatens to stir up trouble. The author supplies background explanations a little self-consciously, and she keeps tragedy at arm's distance from her heroine (Teresa hears news of friends' family members getting killed or hurt, but her own beloved brother remains uninjured). While the positive, comforting message which emphasizes the benefits of neighbors, friends and even enemies helping one another through hard times may make this novel suitable for middle-graders, the Pollyanna-ish approach also mutes its impact. Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-It is 1943 in a small town in Kansas and everyone is doing their part to bring the boys home soon by growing victory gardens. Eleven-year-old Teresa Marks has helped her father tend their prize tomato plants ever since her brother left home to fly a fighter plane. Instinctively, she knows that the rivalry between her dad and their grouchy old neighbor, Tom Burt, over who can grow the best tomatoes is helping him get through the war. When Mr. Burt is seriously hurt in a tractor accident, the girl rallies her classmates to tend and harvest his sizable vegetable garden, even selling the produce to buy war stamps. Everyone pitches in except the class bully, but when the Burts' dog runs off, it is he who finds and cares for the injured, half-starved animal. Puzzled by the boy's erratic, often provocative behavior, Teresa writes to her brother about him. Jeff wisely replies, "-when people act like they want trouble, it's often because they've already got trouble." Slowly, the two cultivate a special friendship. Told in a child's voice with lively dialogue and occasional letters, this novel offers a fresh picture of the home front. Budding gardeners will find lots of information and tips, while airplane enthusiasts will appreciate the brief history of aviation and military aircraft presented in one of Jeff's school papers that his sister finds in his room.

Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 167 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385327889
• ISBN-13: 978-0385327886
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Military & Wars

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a MUST for any library!, March 13, 2002

By 

beth davis (Wichita, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victory Garden (Hardcover)

I am a retired teacher. I retired early (age 25) to stay home with my first baby when she was born in 1989. We now have three children who love to read. I love children's literature and this book interested me. It interested me because entangled in the pages are history, family, friendship, devotion, loyalty and patriotism. The author had me glued to the pages and I, literally, did not put the book down until I finished it! She made the main character so real and I was cheering her on, feeling her pain, and could remember being a little sister to a big brother whom I loved and adored. My daughter is reading the book now - it is beside her bed. These are the kinds of books that I loved as a child and love passing down to my children. It's a wonderful book. I hope the author is inspired to continue to write more children's books. She has a gift and we are fortunate that she shared her gift with us, the gift of writing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Victory is a special part of this garden....., March 12, 2002

By 

Marlene Harris (Fort Worth, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Victory Garden (Hardcover)

I purchased this book for my 10 year old grandchild and decided I should read it before presenting it to her. I am so glad I did. It is a splendid combination of the spirit of World War II and the details of that period of history that should not be forgotten or changed. It was written for the kids we hope will never experience that kind of time, but who must learn about it.

It is not just a story of a victory garden but a child's view of the spirit of the people then and to some extent now. It is so timely because once again our children are called to the details of another world wide battle in which we (and they are involved).

Bravo to the author for bringing this charming, enlightening chronicle of a child uniting people by leading in a way that unified them while helping them. Isn't that what won that war?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great War Read, May 10, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Victory Garden (Paperback)

I am a 5th grade girl. I did not think books about war could be this interesting. When I started the book I thought it was moving slowly, but it really picked up and gave a bang at the end. In some ways I could really relate to Teresa. I have older brothers and they give me nicknames too. I would miss them if they went to war. I went back to the map many times while I was reading. I thought the map was a cool idea. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes suspense and emotional stories.